1) San Francisco's star

The San Francisco 49ers are the best team in football with the best defense in football. That's not up for discussion. Yet somehow, even as the Niners keep winning and dominating, my guy keeps getting lost in the shuffle.

I don't care about his yards or where he went in your fantasy draft or if he's even on a team in your league. Alex Smith has defeated Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford in three of his past four games. He was a Kyle Williams fumble away from potentially adding Eli Manning to that list. Smith has gone 216 straight passes without a pick, a franchise record in San Francisco. You might recall that Joe Montana and Steve Young played for the Niners.

(You also might have noticed Peyton Manning, the quarterback San Francisco flirted with this offseason, threw three picks on Monday night.)

Smith persevered through the Mike Singletary insanity and dealt with a new offensive coordinator every season until Jim Harbaugh took over as head coach. He is the epitome of toughness. That defines his play, especially in crunch time. That defines his leadership style.

Linebacker Patrick Willis is rightly recognized as being the heart of the 49ers. Talking to Willis on Wednesday on my SiriusXM show, he made it crystal clear how much Smith means to the Niners.

"Alex Smith is our guy," Willis said. "We believe in him. He doesn't go outside the box. He exists to win. If it is best for him to throw for 300 yards, that's what he will do. If the best option is a check down, he will. He doesn't get caught up in statistics like other quarterbacks. That man has been through a lot. It is a blessing to see this. I truly admire him. Our team admires him. He loves a challenge."

Willis then gave my favorite Alex Smith quote ever when he dropped, "He has a silent but deadly swag."

The fact that Smith has swag of any kind is rather remarkable. This is the same quarterback who was publicly humiliated by the overmatched Singletary, slung through the mud and branded as a bust. For the transformation, you credit Harbaugh pumping him with confidence -- and Smith for responding. You credit Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman for being smart play callers. Smith finally has stability in his head coach, play caller and offensive system in consecutive years.

You correctly read the NFL.com Power Poll with the Niners sitting on top because of the best defense in the game. You don't worry about San Francisco overlooking the Minnesota Vikings this weekend because they take a "one game at a time" approach and have a championship feel to them. Harbaugh gets his props. So does the run game. The Niners are a potential champion, and Smith is a main reason why.

You call Smith a game manager. I call him a star who makes plays, sets the tempo and leads. The silent but deadly swag can come up and bite you. If you don't believe me, ask some of the quarterbacks with the gaudy stats who have recently lost to Smith. They'd advise you to stop overlooking him, too.

2) Upset Special I

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7) 12th Man magic

I enjoyed catching up with Russell Wilson this week on SiriusXM. The Seahawks quarterback stressed that he isn't fueled by the doubters who said he couldn't start because of his height. Wilson said, "My height doesn't define my skill set." He's super comfortable in the Seahawks' offense, having played in the West Coast offense at N.C. State and in a vertical passing attack at Wisconsin. Wilson played in several fantastic environments in college, but he confessed, "There's nothing like Seattle. It's electrifying in that stadium. So strong. So powerful. It's one of a kind."

Wilson gets it. He's been solid thus far as a rookie. He's going to be entrenched as the Seahawks quarterback for a long time.

8) Green Bay's key ingredient

While I love Wilson, and the Seahawks made me look good for my upset special over Dallas last week, I do like the Packers in Seattle on Monday night.Aaron Rodgers and his offensive cohorts haven't hit their stride yet, but the Green Bay defense made major progress against Chicago with the pass rush and making plays on the back end. As I wrote in training camp, Tramon Williams is the key. The corner was an elite player the season the Packers won the Super Bowl. Last season, injuries derailed his campaign. His stellar performance on NFL Network last Thursday against Chicago was telling.

9) Survivor pick

Hope you listened to me and picked Cincinnati last week. I can't write about Alex Smith and not take the Niners in Minnesota.